d in the new scheme a gentleman named John
Robert Godley, who became very ardent, and under his direction three
ships were filled with 600 settlers and their property, and left England
on their long voyage to the Antipodes. They reached their destination,
the east coast of the South Island, on 16th December, 1850, and gladly
felt the soil of a lovely land under their feet. In their enthusiasm
they sang the National Anthem, and scattered out to view their new
homes. A high and rugged hill prevented their seeing inland till they
climbed to its brow, and then they perceived long plains of fertile
soil, watered by numerous streams of bright and rapid water. They
resolved to found their city on the plains, making only a port upon the
sea-shore. Governor Grey and his wife came over from Wellington to
welcome them, and they found that much had been done to make them
comfortable. Large sheds had been put up in which they could find
shelter till they should build their own homes. A pretty spot by a river
named the Avon was chosen for the town, which was laid out in a square;
and a church and schoolroom were built among the first erections. In
keeping with the religious fervour that lay at the basis of the whole
undertaking, the town was called Christchurch; while the name of
Lyttelton was given to the seaport, a road being made between the two
and over the hill.

[Illustration: CHRISTCHURCH CATHEDRAL.]

During the next year 2,600 settlers arrived. Some of these were young
men of birth and fortune, who brought with them everything needed to
transplant to New Zealand the luxuries of England. A large proportion of
the settlers were labouring men of a superior class, who were brought
out as servants at the expense of the wealthy settlers. There was a good
deal of disappointment. Many of the labourers crossed over to Australia,
where the gold discoveries offered every man a chance of fortune, and
where wages were very high. The wealthiest people therefore had to do
their own work, and few of them liked it. The result was that many left
the settlement and never came back to it. But from Australia came
relief. For some of the squatters who had been dislodged by the
inroad of diggers to Victoria, hearing of the great grassy plains of
Canterbury, with never a tree to be cleared from the natural pasturage,
crossed with flocks of sheep, and bought land in the new settlement. In
1853 Canterbury had 5,000 people; it produced L40,000 worth o